Dottie and Ken

My sister Dottie was married when I was just a wee thing.  Dottie is a wonderful person and a lovely sister who means the world to me. Everything that Dottie does, everything she's interested in, and everything she has seems to me to be the best!  When I was in my early teens, I spent a lot of time at Dottie's house and even rode my bike many, many miles just to see her and her husband, Ken.  Ken has always made me feel welcome and what's more, he's been known to do a fantastic Donald Duck voice!

Ken is a very good artist and has done fabulous pieces with very fine, detailed brushwork.  He's always enjoyed the outdoors - especially gardening and bird watching - so his paintings focus on nature scenes. The thing about Ken is that he always keeps a conversation going.  He's interested in everything you have to say, and has such a gentle, calm way about him.  He makes you feel special.  He is completely absorbed in whatever you're talking about, well-rounded in literally every subject, understands your feelings, and knows just the right thing to say.  He's sensitive without being mushy and has always made me feel welcome in his home.  I've always enjoyed being with him.

Being at Dottie and Ken's house IS like being home only better.  It's extremely comfortable, there are always pretty things to see, interesting magazines to read, funny poems and photos on the refrigerator to spark your interest, and tasty treats in fancy glass dishes set on Dottie's crocheted doilies that adorn the coffee table.  Without a doubt, there's always a nice meal in store for me even if I just happened to stop by! Dottie and I have always shared recipes and she is well aware of my Gus-fixation. Ken is quite a good cook himself.  He's of Lithuanian descent and turned me on to some black bread that he and Dottie bought in a little out-of-the-way place in the Lithuanian village of a small nearby city.  I ventured off many times to this special store just to buy these slices of black bread goodness.

I have so many special memories of dining with Dottie, Ken and my husband, Mike, in the most glorious place in the world, the Center Lovell Inn in Center Lovell, Maine. During the years that we dined there, the Center Lovell Inn featured Northern Italian cuisine.  We would sit on the porch that overlooked the mountains, watch the sunset, enjoy wonderful meals and relax in this quaint, old inn.  Before the meal, they always featured a small dish of cottage cheese with an assortment of crackers, along with their signature dish of marinated chickpeas.  I came up with this simple recipe that's very similar to what we enjoyed while we were anticipating even more good things to come in our main meal.

Here is a little taste of heaven, Center Lovell Inn-style, from the 1980's era.

************

Marinated Chickpeas

1 20-oz. can chickpeas, drained

2 TB chopped onion

4 TB lemon juice

6 TB olive oil

1 TB fresh basil, chopped

2 garlic cloves, mashed

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and marinate at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve with a dish of cottage cheese and crackers before your meal.

************

Growing up in the kitchen

The years that I spent with my mother in the kitchen listening to Gus Saunders and the Yankee Kitchen had an immense impact on my life. These were the formative years. My values were shaped during this time. From my mother, I learned that we should treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. I learned that the there was only one God, but was worshipped in different ways by different people. This was the time when I felt a complete sense of security in my life. There were things that I could always count on.  My mother was always at home in the kitchen, 2:05 in the afternoon meant that Gus was just coming on the air, and from the dining room of the Copley Plaza Hotel, where Gus would broadcast his show, the sounds of wait staff removing dishes at the end of the lunch service could be heard. Day after day I listened to the show with my mother and wrote down recipes. We listened to the callers and got to know them. “I love Molly. She has such a sweet voice,” my mother would say. The days lingered, with one day rolling into the next, especially during the hot summer months. In the days of my youth, listening to Gus during the late 1960’s and throughout the 70’s, it seemed that we had all the time in the world. 

I learned patience and kindness from both Gus and my mother: Gus in the tactful way he treated each caller, and my mother in the way she guided me in learning the fundamentals of cooking and baking: how to measure and sift dry ingredients, separate an egg, fold in egg whites, make a flaky pastry, hold a knife, dice an onion, make a roux.

I developed an appreciation for the bounties of the New England seasons. In the summer, my mother and I picked raspberries and blackberries in our yard with suitable armor to protect us from the briars – a long-sleeved shirt and pants and a hat to protect from the sun. We picked strawberries and blueberries from nearby farms. In the fall, we picked apples and peaches from orchards. With all of our recipes from the Yankee Kitchen, there was no shortage of ideas for incorporating the fruits of our labor. The dining room table was always full of Yankee Kitchen delights since my mother was, as she would put it, “forever” baking. Gus often talked about how fruits in season were gifts. And since they were available to us for only a short time that made them even sweeter. My mother’s delicious creations that she made from Yankee Kitchen recipes - Double Good Blueberry Pie, Strawberry Shortcake and Apple Spice Cake - certainly convinced me to “get while the getting is good”.

************

Double Good Blueberry Pie

9" baked shell

3/4 c. sugar

3 TB cornstarch

1/8 ts. salt

1/4 c. water

4 c. blueberries

1 TB butter

1 TB lemon juice

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in pan.  Add water and 2 cups blueberries.  Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil and becomes thick and clear.  Take off heat, stir in butter and lemon juice.  Let cool. Spread 2 cups berries in shell.  Pour cooked mixture over and chill.

************ 

The Yankee Kitchen also gave me my first taste of diversity. The audience of listeners ran the gamut from young to old, new mothers, grandmothers, fathers, sight-impaired, housebound, and listeners of various cultural backgrounds. Food was our common bond. Middle Eastern, Irish, and Italian callers brought us into their worlds of family food traditions and we were able to share their enthusiasms through their favorite recipes. Gus recognized the vital role that food traditions played in families and emphasized the importance of recording family recipes and passing them along to future generations.

The individual callers with their unique personalities and recognizable voices made up our Yankee Kitchen family. Gus was the head of the family - a true “gentleman and a scholar” with high standards and rules for running the show, and always a consummate professional right up to his final broadcast. I respected him and felt that whatever he said was the honest truth, and that his dedicated advertisers, with products like King Arthur Flour and Carando Spiral Sliced Hams, had to be the best!

When I had a place of my own, I continued in my mother’s footsteps, listening to the Yankee Kitchen, cooking, and baking up a storm, too. I made a recipe, added my notations, and made it again. I entertained often, and still do. I’ve tried to pass along my love for cooking and pleasing others to my children who have experimented a bit in the kitchen themselves. I’m grateful for the years I spent in the kitchen with my mother and for Gus Saunders and the contributors to the Yankee Kitchen.